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PRESS RELEASE: PRESS/TPRB/293

TRADE POLICY REVIEW:

Openness to trade and investment has supported growth

Pakistan’s economic growth has been impressive since its previous Trade Policy Review in 2002 mainly as a result of its relatively open trade and investment regimes, sound macroeconomic policies and structural reforms that have also contributed to lower unemployment and reduced poverty, according to a WTO Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of Pakistan.

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Trade liberalization has resulted inter alia in noticeable improvements in customs procedures, the considerable reduction of tariff protection and the widening of the scope of tariff bindings, giving more predictability to the trade regime. Despite these improvements, a complex tariff structure remains in place in some sectors. In addition, the protection of Intellectual Property Rights has been strengthened.

The report also notes that Pakistan still lags behind in export diversification still depending heavily on textiles and clothing, which account for two thirds of the total exports. This sector now faces stronger competition in major markets. Also, State involvement in certain activities like engineering and key services persists.

Continued trade liberalization and other productivity-boosting structural reforms to address bottlenecks, excessive regulatory controls and labour market rigidities would help improve Pakistan’s international competitiveness and the prospects for sustainable economic growth, according to the report.

The WTO report, along with a policy statement by the Government, will be the basis for the Trade Policy Review (TPR) by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO.

The following documents are available in MS Word format.

• Secretariat report
  > Contents and summary observations
  > Economic environment
  > Trade and investment regimes
  > Trade policies and practices by measure
  > Trade policies by sector
  > Appendix tables
    
• Government report
    

Note  back to top

Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each review, two documents are prepared: a policy statement by the government of the member under review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.

Print copies of previous TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop.

The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press, 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States.

Schedule of forthcoming reviews  back to top

Ghana: 28 and 30 of January 2008
Mexico: 11 and 13 of February 2008
Brunei Darussalam: 25 and 27 of February 2008

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